Driving 101

Jason had his first driving lesson yesterday.

I was occupied with laundry and peeling wallpaper, and somehow we go onto the subject of checking accounts.

So he passed the quiz that my credit union requires of teens to get a checking account ....and he got psyched. And, hey, since he was all "psyched" about getting his own checking account, I asked him if he wanted to have his first driving lesson.

I fully expected him to reply "no," being as that was his reply the other 4,000 times I had asked him that question since receiving his license.

But instead he replied "yes." Dang... now I would actually have to teach him to drive. I have been excited for him since he got his license, but at the same time, I have been very nervous about teaching him on a manual transmission.

So, here I was. Son in driver's seat. Me in passenger seat. The first thing he asked was "Why is the seatbelt on the wrong side?"

We got down to business. I had the "simple" task of teaching him to let off the clutch at the same time he pushed the gas pedal.

It is SO hard to teach something that is natural to me; that I don't think about. He did very well with it all though... he only flooded the car a few times and he only conked out a few hundred times. It was all good.

After about an hour, he had had enough of his lesson so I got behind the wheel and headed back home. I described to him how it felt when I had my feet in motion.... and he wanted another try. This time he did it almost perfectly! It clicked with him. He finally understood what I had been trying to say, and asked me why I hadn't just done that to begin with.

We pulled in the driveway. He was grinning. I was grinning and so proud of him. Proud of him for continuing without giving up, even though I know he was frustrated many times.

I gave him a hug and told him to get in the car because I wanted to take a picture of him behind the wheel. Before we began the lesson, I had stashed the camera in my purse thinking I would get an "action shot" of him driving.... but my purse ended up in the back seat and unavailable. And just as well. I don't think it would have been a cool "mom" move to whip out a camera while he was in the throes of clutching!

At least he allowed me to photograph him at the end. I can't get the photo to upload so you'll have to imagine it!